The present invention relates to a nutcracking apparatus for cracking nuts in bulk.
A number of mechanically driven or powered devices have been suggested for cracking nuts in bulk. Some such devices involve rotating drums or rotors spaced apart from a stator. The nuts to be cracked pass into the space between the rotor and stator and are cracked. However, such devices are complex, and they tend to damage substantial amounts of the nutmeat.
In addition, most such prior devices will not crack nuts of various sizes, and require that the nuts be segregated as to size before passing them through the nutcracking device.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a nutcracking apparatus that minimizes cracking of the nutmeat.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a nutcracking apparatus that cracks various size nuts at the same time without requiring segregation into different size ranges.
The apparatus of the present invention has a hopper for receiving uncracked nuts. The hopper communicates with a nutcracking housing. A hammer plate is located inside the housing and is attached at its upper end to a axle, the outer ends of which are pivotally attached to opposing sidewalls of the housing. The area adjacent the lower end of the hammer plate abuts a camshaft, the outer ends of the camshaft being journaled in bearings located outside of the opposing sidewalls of the housing.
An anvil plate is located inside the housing opposite the hammer plate. The anvil plate is attached at its upper end to an axle, the outer ends of which are pivotally attached to opposing sidewalls of the housing. The inner end of a jack screw is in contact with an area of the anvil plate adjacent its lower edge.
One outer end of the camshaft axle is attached to a flywheel. A flywheel drive means includes an electric motor having a small pulley located on the outer end of its drive shaft, the small pulley and the flywheel being connected by a pulley belt.
In operation, nuts to be cracked are placed into the hopper and fall between the hammer plate and anvil plate by gravity. The camshaft is rotated by the flywheel drive means and, since the camshaft abuts the lower edge of the hammer plate, causes the hammer plate to rapidly pivot back and forth toward and away from the anvil plate. The distance between the hammer plate and the anvil plate can be adjusted by the screw jack.